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During the long, harsh winters of the Canadian east, some cats are more affected by the cold more than others. Nyen hates to admit it, but between the days of early November and late February, his stamina and strength falter. He’s always been strong and capable, but a need to prove himself causes him to behave recklessly. Usually, I’m the one who’s tasked with helping him recover. I never mind it, of course.
Although I’ve always enjoyed Nyen’s ruthless nature towards other creatures, there will always be a part of me that can’t help but worry for my lover. Sure, he’s got good offense, but his defensive tactics are always just “get them before they get me.” It’s unsafe. One evening while Master Luther and I were preparing dinner, Nyen came stumbling into the kitchen, hair messy and sweater bloody. Once I laid my eyes on the poor cat, I immediately stopped what I was doing and rushed over to him, throwing my arms around him and trying to better examine him.
“I’m… I’m fine, really. I just need to lay down.” He tried pulling away, but I kept clinging onto him. Our eyes met for a split second, and he seemed more embarrassed than anything, his face burning and his eyes avoidant.
“Hm. You really should let Nyon clean you up, Nyen. You’re looking a bit beat up.” Luther called over to us, his usually monotone voice uneven with worry. It was about six pm, I think, so I did worry about not being ready for dinner. Glancing at Luther, I asked him to take over the cooking. Of course, he nodded and let me carry Nyen up to our shared bathroom.
“Oh, you poor котенок. What happened to you?” I asked, having Nyen sit down on the closed toilet lid. Gently I pushed back his hair so I could get a good look at his damaged face. He had a couple scratches across his face, but they didn't seem too deep, so I wasn’t too worried. There were noticeably softer towels that I kept in the back of the cupboard for myself, but I felt like he needed something gentler to the touch, so I sacrificed one for his face and pulled out another for the cuts on his body. I ran the washcloth under warm water and delicately wiped the dried blood off Nyen’s face. After I finished, Nyen left his head resting in my hand and even pushed the side of his face into my palm. We sat there for a moment while he purred from my touch, he must’ve really been in pain.
A bit of red spread across his cheeks when I told him he would need to get undressed so I could fully examine and take care of his wounds. There were bandages in the medicine cabinet behind the mirror, so I let the other catman remove his clothes while I rummaged around trying to find the supplies so as not to embarrass him, even though we’ve seen each other naked before…
Once I laid my eyes on Nyen’s bare, damaged body I couldn’t help but gasp at the damage done to my poor lover. A large wound ran from the bottom of his neck, down to his bobtail, which was thankfully fully intact. Losing a tail is extremely painful for catmen. Plus, his little black tail is very cute, it’d be a shame if it was damaged.
Just like I did with his face, I tried my best to be compassionate and soft while cleaning and dressing Nyen’s wounds. That did seem to be a success since my little patient didn’t hiss or growl. My time caring for Nyen's many lacerations has paid off, now he's much more used to it. In addition to that, I can't deny that I believe my help has played a role in his affections. Then we got to his legs which were only bruised, and the knees were skinned. Again, I wet the towel and bent down, cleaning off Nyen's knees and wiping the grass and dirt from his skin. Cautiously I leaned down and gently pressed my lips against Nyen’s raw, aching knees. I heard him inhale sharply, either from pain or from the unexpected kiss.
“You're all cleaned and bandaged up. Wanna go snuggle while we wait for dinner?” I suggested, standing up and helping the other stand and walk out the bathroom. Dinner would be ready soon, but I still wanted to get a chance to have some physical time with Nyen. The noise of Luther cooking could be heard from downstairs, indicating Nyen and I had some time to ourselves.
I pet his head and headed out the bathroom door and down the hall to our bathroom, with him following closely behind. The two of us snuggled up into bed, Nyen climbing onto me, laying spread out on my chest. I gently started to stroke him from the top of Nyen’s head down to his mid-back. Occasionally Nyen will purr while I do this, today being one of those times. It was a soothing feeling, the deep vibration from his chest calming me. We briefly fell asleep before Master Luther called us down for dinner.
Randal looked filthy, must have been playing outside with Sebastian in the mud. I looked to Luther, expecting him to order me to clean the two after we finished dinner, but instead of him meeting my gaze his eyes stayed on Randal and Sebastian, shaking his head and telling them to clean themselves up after dinner.
Hopefully Luther doesn't think I'm becoming useless. I've been gaining weight and getting older. Pushing my plate to the side, I excused myself with the lie that I wasn't feeling well. My eyes felt hot with tears and my body felt suffocating. After lying in bed for around an hour, I heard Nyen push open the door and felt my mattress sink slightly as he sat at the foot of my bed.
“You need me to take care of you now?" Nyen teased in a lighthearted manner. I cast a glare at him without even realizing it. His face went flat and I heard a sigh escape his lips. The weight shifted when he curled up at my feet, resting his chin on my ankle.
I kept my eyes fixed on the wall beside my bed until my vision started to swirl and go blurry. All I'll ever be is a secondary person, it feels like I'm not even the protagonist in my own life at times. I expected today to go alright, cuddling with Nyen always makes me happy. Oh how things can spiral for me. Nyen fell asleep laying there, grabbing my legs and holding me still in my sleep.
At least I still had that comfort.